‘I’m so proud of my son’: Little boy holds hand of crying classmate with autism on first day of school

WICHITA, Kan. – An 8-year-old boy is being commended after showing his compassion for a classmate on the first day of school.

According to a Facebook post from Courtney Moore, her son, Christian, saw another boy crying in the corner and befriended him. It happened at Minneha Core Knowledge Elementary School in Wichita, Kansas.

Photos from Moore showed Christian holding hands with his classmate, Connor, to help comfort him.

“I’m so proud of my son,” Moore wrote. “He [had] seen a kid balled up into a corner crowing, so he went to console him, grabbed his hand and walked him inside of the school! It is an honor to raise such a loving, compassionate child. He’s a kid with a big heart, the first day of school started off right.”

Connor’s mother, April Crites, thanked Moore for her son’s kindness in a comment. Crites said her son is autistic and can get overwhelmed.

“Tell your son I said thank you so very much!” Crites wrote. “That little boy he helped is my son and is autistic, I worry every day that he is going to get bullied for being different and your son just absolutely warmed my heart. If there were more children like him I wouldn’t worry about such things.”

Moore responded that her son struggled with speech and hopes this marks the beginning of a new friendship.

The post, which has more than 20,000 shares and 5,600 comments, has gotten national attention.